1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer-assisted data manipulation and analysis. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and techniques for quickly and efficiently accessing and sorting large quantities of demographic data and media access information for various decision-making purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
Television viewing is one of the most popular activities in homes around the world. Large numbers of people both in the United States and abroad use the television as a primary source for news, entertainment, and various social activities. This large population of television viewers is also a very desirable group of consumers, sought after for their purchasing power. Most businesses and companies recognize the potent power of the television when it comes to attracting and retaining consumers for their various products and services. Television has the capability to transmit virtually any message to millions of people in an instant. Because of this enormous potential, television advertising is believed to be one of the most important advertising vehicles available for reaching a desired consumer population.
Because television has an enormous potential to reach many consumers, many businesses spend large amounts of money on television advertising, thereby making advertising revenue a major source of income for both the networks which create television programs and the television stations which broadcast them. Broadcast television advertising revenue is estimated to be in excess of $30 billion per year, which explains why advertisers care so much about television viewing. The most important part of the equation is to try and get the advertising message in front of the right group of television-viewing consumers, i.e., matching the product with the target market.
Since the value of target marketing is well known, the focus of most businesses is to try and place their advertisements in commercial slots on television shows that effectively attract and retain the targeted consumer groups. For example, many major sporting events are heavily subsidized by advertising campaigns and commercials promoting beer. On the other hand, most weekly home and garden programs don't present any advertising or commercial promotions for alcoholic beverages. Obviously, the businesses that advertise and market alcoholic beverages such as beer have determined that the consumers who purchase beer are more likely to be watching Monday Night Football than Martha Stewart's living. By focusing beer-related advertising efforts on those programs the target audience is most likely to watch, the results from the advertising campaign will, in theory, pay greater dividends.
By extension, in order to maximize the impact of a given advertising campaign, it is very useful to have demographic information about the television viewing audience that will help to match the advertising campaign with the target market. This demographic information can include information such as a viewer's age, geographical location, income, and level of education. These factors and other factors such as program genre and time of day for broadcasting the television program are all relevant variables in determining what kind of advertising slots should be purchased to most effectively market a given product to a given target market.
To effectively determine which shows are most favored by the desired target market, advertising agencies and businesses have utilized the services of various different research and consulting firms. These firms purportedly have the ability to accurately identify which segment of the consumer population is most likely to be viewing which television program at any given time. In addition, these research firms try to predict which viewers will be most receptive to various advertising campaigns, based on the demographic make-up of the viewing population. Based upon the weekly viewing information prepared and presented by the television viewing-related research firms/agencies, advertising campaigns are born and terminated. Further, new shows are identified as "must watch" programs and less fortunate programs are summarily dismissed from the airwaves. Finally, millions and millions of advertising dollars are spent, in a frequently vain attempt to reach a desired target audience. While sound in theory, the application of most theoretical viewing models has not been successful.
Although the practice of identifying target markets and developing advertising campaigns that will effectively reach those targeted consumers is a fairly advanced science, the ability to accurately and efficiently determine which television programs those desired consumers are watching at any given time is a far-less developed area of industry. One of the main problems with the currently used models and techniques for identifying and segmenting the television-viewing audience is the lack of effective tools for providing real time response to pertinent questions about viewing habits. Using the current systems and methods to manipulate and analyze the huge amounts of data that are available to decision-makers can take days or even weeks to accomplish. Frequently, the various systems available today will provide data that are no longer relevant by the time the data are generated. In addition, the currently available tools impose artificial limits on advertising agencies and media planners that are actively involved in the decision-making process.
This is particularly true when trying to create and/or customize an advertising campaign to reach the target market in the most cost-effective manner for a given advertiser. There are, at present, no interactive methods or tools available to the media planner for efficiently accessing media-related data. Most media planners have the data available to make strategic decisions, but the available tools do not allow easy access to the data in an intuitive, interactive environment. This means that the planning process is more an art than a science, and many years of experience are required to effectively determine or even estimate the probable effectiveness of a given advertising strategy.
Another significant drawback of the systems and methods presently used to analyze television audience viewing data is limited access. Most systems available today are large, expensive computer systems that many smaller companies cannot afford to purchase. Given limited access, many companies are forced to pay high-priced consultants to analyze the relevant data and to provide access to the desired information. This further limits the value of the available data.
Without a more effective system for manipulating and analyzing the presently available information regarding the viewing habits of television audiences, advertising agencies, networks, businesses, and other interested organizations will continue to be limited in their efforts to produce effective advertising campaigns. The result will undoubtedly be more wasted advertising dollars and an unnecessary loss in revenue for everyone that relies on the presently available systems/methods for analysis and decision-making purposes.